Sialic Acid Expression in the Mosquito Aedes aegypti and Its Possible Role in Dengue Virus-Vector Interactions

Figure 2

Lectin histochemistry of Ae. aegypti tissues. (a) Results of α-2,6-linked Sia detection in Ae. aegypti SG, midgut, and head incubated with SNA lectin (1 : 100) and stained with FITC. SG, upper panel: 60x microscopic magnification, lower panel: 40x lens. The inner box in the SG-DAPI panel shows the SG region analyzed. To identify Sia, the midgut and head transverse sections were evaluated with SNA lectin (green) (20x magnification). (b) Results for the α-2,6-linked Sia positive control in D. melanogaster abdomen, gut, and midgut using SNA lectin, which are similar to those for Ae. aegypti tissues. (c) SNA staining of mosquito SG and midgut pretreated with 0.5 IU sialidase for 30 min before SNA incubation. The control comprised D. melanogaster heads pretreated with sialidase. Blue: nuclei stained with DAPI. Green: (FITC) SNA lectin interaction.

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